armor

also known as:armour

The word armor is used many times in English Bibles. In the King James Bible it is used to indicate military equipment, both offensive and defensive. In other translations, the word is generally used to refer to protective body coverings.

In describing the “whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:14-17), Paul was referring to the Roman soldier’s panoply—a complete set of arms or suit of armor. The “shield of faith” would be like the soldier’s scutum, a door-like oblong shield above all, i.e., covering the whole person, not just a small round shield. There was no armor for the back, but only for the front.

The “sword” is the usual translation of “hereb,” which properly means “poniard” [a slender bladed dagger]. The real sword, as well as the dirk-sword (which was always double-edged), was also used (1 Samuel 17:39; 2 Samuel 20:8; 1 Kings 20:11).